The ruins of buildings and industrial plants in Munich are silhouetted against a wall of flames and smoke. At the top of the frame, a portion of blue sky appears to be full of aircraft, some of them crashing in flames. Anti-aircraft batteries, a…

An exchange of salvos is taking place between three Regia Marina vessels and seven Royal Navy ships crossing a calm sea. Plumes of black smoke are billowing out of the funnels. Shell splashes are occurring around the Italian ships.

The destroyer Espero is sinking rapidly in a rough sea. Its stern is raised high into the air, exposing the rudder and propeller, whilst the bow is already submerged. Flames and smoke are engulfing the bridge. A lifeboat with survivors is visible on…

The badly damaged operations room of destroyer Espero, with a gaping hole in the ship's side and pieces of machinery engulfed in smoke. Five men are visible in total, three officers dressed in white uniforms and two seamen in blue with red stripes…

Two life rafts are packed with survivors, some clothed others almost naked. The life raft in the foreground carries approximately nine men. Two others are being helped to climb on board. Two of the men appear seriously injured and one holds a pistol.…

The searchlight of a Royal Navy vessel casts a yellow beam onto a group of survivors. Some of them are swimming, others are on a raft. In the foreground, a life craft can be seen on the turret on the deck of another ship. A second Royal Navy vessel…

An Italian seaplane flies over a life raft with six people on board. Two white pieces of cloth are flying from posts. A distress flare has been fired into the sky and is exploding. Two people are sitting, whilst four others are standing and waving,…

At the back of a raft, a man dressed in a blue uniform is saluting. One semi-clothed man, wearing a red life jacket around his neck, stands to his right watching other men carrying out a burial at sea. The dead man has blood on his chest. An Italian…

A raft has fourteen people on board. Some are wearing white caps and two are wearing red life jackets around their necks. Several of the occupants of the raft are injured. Sharks are circling the raft.

In the centre of the painting is a lifeboat in choppy seas with at least eight people on board. A shirt and some trousers are tied to the two masts of the lifeboat and are blowing in the wind. A man wearing a white uniform with a red emblem on his…

A submarine is surfacing near a life raft with six figures on board. On the life raft, there are two masts connected by a line. At one end of the line, a pair of trousers is hanging. Below the trousers is a figure standing up and waving both arms in…

In choppy water, two lifeboats are packed with people wearing military uniform. Figures are being tossed around in the sea. One figure is sinking backwards in the water with his legs in the air. Another is waving his arm in the air. Four figures, not…

The Conte Rosso is sinking bow first into turbulent waters. Men are struggling in the water and a figure is totally submerged with only his left hand raised above the water. Nearby, a man with a lifebelt marked “CONTE ROSSO” is swimming towards…

A lifeboat is about to capsize. Figures are falling helplessly into the water and one figure in a green shirt is screaming in terror whilst holding his right arm in the air. The keel of the lifeboat is above water as it tips backwards.

A mass execution of Jews is taking place whilst fierce fires are burning in the background. To the front of the crowd, many have been killed and are lying on the ground. Others are being herded into the mass of people being killed, some holding up…

The SS Galilea has been torpedoed on its starboard side. A large explosion has caused flames to engulf the craft and black smoke is billowing upwards. Large waves are evident around the ship. Two other ships are sailing away towards the horizon, one…

Ten Alpini dressed in green and with bare feet are in the water, clinging to the outside of a round, yellow life raft. One figure is wearing a life jacket. To the right of the life raft, a further figure is being swept away and another body is…

On a clear day, two white aircraft with red crosses painted on their wings and fuselage are featured. One is flying on the horizon and the other crashing into the sea. Flames and smoke have engulfed the crashed aircraft. Nearby is a white boat with…

On a clear day, a convoy of seven Regia Marina destroyers is under attack by five Royal Navy vessels on the horizon. Four of the Royal Navy units have been hit and are engulfed in flames while a fifth ship is sailing on the horizon. Explosions are…

The Bomber Command Digital Archive is an initiative of the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC). The Lincolnshire Bomber Command Memorial Trust (Registered Charity No. 1144182) and the University of Lincoln are partners in delivering the IBCC.

Unless otherwise noted, each item is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre